And finally - Happy New Year!

Instalment 3 Sept – Dec

Well here’s to the final part of my highlights of 2016. I was very heartened by the messages I received after yesterdays post, mental health is something that clearly touches lots of people and this makes it so important to get it out there!

So – DS#2 finished his training at Harrogate and applied to move to Bovington for Phase 2, working with tanks. We were thrilled when his change was accepted and very excited to join him for a Family Day on the camp once he had settled in. It was packed with things to see and do, including a spectacular display by some of the troops and vehicles. We even got to climb on and into some of them (the vehicles, not the troops - that would just be weird!) The camp is right on the south coast and so after the Family Day we were able to spend a little bit of time enjoying the scenery.

Tanks and people stood on tanks.

The boy and a Challenger 2

The boy in a Challenger 2

My friend Kathy and I travelled into London in October to visit the Om Yoga Show again. We did this last year and had an inspirational and free sample rich day. There were less free samples this year but we both came away feeling motivated. I have booked to go on a yoga retreat to India next year and have been trying hard to keep up my practice. It is still my little oasis of calm in the week.

There were some people doing yoga behind us!

The big event for the family during this time was a new addition! DH sent me a very cute puppy picture via email at work – no message, just the picture. To cut a long story short, a couple of weeks later we were heading home with a very lovely bundle of fur and legs in the back of our car. The new pup was christened Sirius Black (a mix of Harry Potter and the dog star) and is already a very special member of the family! Part whippet, part collie, part tornado, he is into everything and everywhere.

What a cutie!

November saw me off on a retreat. Led by the very wonderful Sas Petherick, Sacred Rascals was held in a beautiful manor house in the Cotswolds. I arrived not knowing anybody, not sure what to expect, full of fear and so totally feeling it was the right thing to do. Well, the weekend was the most wonderful experience. The group of women who attended were the loveliest, most supportive and welcoming bunch ever. We were spoilt with glorious food, space to rest, read and explore, did some magical self discovery and I even spoke out loud! Some of us have stayed in touch since – if any of you are reading this then thank you xxx

Our circle - just magical!

We got to live here for the weekend :)

There was a spiral in the gardens and I found this heart right in the middle.

December has been a bit of a crazy time. I have fitted in some craft fairs and Jane and I had a jaunt to the seaside! One of our new things was to try dancing and so, since around Easter we have been doing a Lindy Hop class with the lovely Alan and Lisa. It has been a total hoot and we have loved it. We decided to sign up for a dance weekend away and so the weekend before Christmas saw us heading down to Torquay. Once there we decided that although the bands were good and there was some fantastic dancing to watch, we were probably neither good enough nor brave enough to join in. This wasn’t a problem as we decided to eat, drink and shop instead. Thus we had a most wonderful relaxing weekend and came back feeling ready to take on Christmas and all that good stuff.

I made acorns for the craft fair

Torquay sunset

And so – I have enjoyed a very quiet Christmas with my family. I have caught up with friends, caught up with some things I wanted to do and have given some thought to the coming year. It has been good to just have time to reflect and regroup. However you are spending the New Year, I wish you well and hope that 2017 is sparkly and wonderful!

Happy New Year to you all - see you in 2017!

Emeralds and Poppies

This week saw me brave the Big City once more. I had been invited to accompany some friends to see the wonderful Caro Emerald play at The O2. We decided to make a whole day of it and fit in some sightseeing and girlie shopping too. How could I resist?

The pre-visit planning session took place in a pub and was not much use. Two of us turned up, we couldn't get WiFi and neither of us had brought maps or could visualise what London looked like other than a vague recollection of the shape of the Thames from the start of EastEnders. Cue conversation along the lines of “I think the O2 is about here” (points to beer stain on table) “So, we get off the bus here” (indicate dry roast peanut to left of beer stain) “The best place for lunch, then, is here” (slightly bent beermat somewhere in the middle). We decided to go with the flow and delegate all responsibility to the lady who hadn't turned up for the planning meeting!

It ended up being a relatively stress free day. I drove to Oxford and we took a coach into London, starting off in Covent Garden. I had never been here before and thoroughly enjoyed it! They even had a Moomin Shop! A whole shop dedicated to all things Moomin, I was in heaven! I only bought a pencil as that is all that would fit into my stupidly small handbag...

After this we had a very grown up lunch in an Italian restaurant. I’m quite glad I was designated driver for the day and had an excuse to avoid a glass of wine with lunch as this normally results in having to have an afternoon nap.

Covent Garden - I wish I'd taken more photographs!

After Covent Garden we strolled along the Thames Path towards the Tower of London. I wanted to visit the Poppy Garden exhibition there and the other ladies were kind enough to indulge me. I am so glad we did.... It was simply breathtaking. If you haven’t heard of the art instillation, check it out here. Basically they have created 888,246 ceramic poppies to represent those who died in WW1 and they are being planted around the moat at the ToL. It began in August and will finish with a ceremony on 11^th November. I can’t even describe in words the impact that all these poppies have. And when you stop to reflect that each one represents a person then it becomes even more mind-blowing. Truly moving.

Poppies at the Tower - 

Following this sombre moment we continued on our journey to The O2. The gig was pretty awesome too. Caro soon had people up and dancing and we forgot the prospect of the epic homeward journey that still awaited us and got caught up in the music!

Bring on the music!

I finally crawled into bed at 2.15am – It had been a day of contrasts, fun and sombre reflection. And Moomins :)

Le Tour in London.

Apparently there was an 'Event' happening in London!

It’s been almost a week since we attended the greatest cycling show on Earth. Between then and now there have been thrills and spills, big names are out, places are being fought out and last Monday seems a bit like a distant dream!

So, Le Tour was always part of my childhood Summer family viewing – the only sporting event that we ever followed. I kind of lost touch a bit in the early 1990’s but regained the passion and have been faithfully following it each year from the armchair! Every year we would say ‘we MUST go and actually see it in real life!’

Free yellow caps? Check!

Well, you can hardly have failed to notice that this year the Grand Depart was in the UK, starting in Yorkshire and finishing Day Three in London. No excuse not to join in this time then! DS#1, DD and I decided we would do it.... cue lots of studying of the route, checking out tips and hints. Should we find a less busy place to view en route? Should we brave the very centre of London itself? Fan Park (with giant screen and added entertainment but not seeing the actual action itself) or roadside viewpoint in the capital (lots of waiting for 30 seconds of action)? In the end we decided to go with the flow – make our way to London on the morning and scope out the possibilities.

We left Oxford at a most unsociable hour but it meant we beat most of the rush hour traffic into the capital and managed to have time for a cooked breakfast to set us up for the day. We followed the route until we reached The Mall where the finish line was to be. I have never been so excited! All the lorries and TV equipment was there in place, the gantry over the finish line which they were busy painting onto the road (the actual TdF finish line!!) and the podium was set up.... people were beginning to bag spots and so we had decisions to make. The podium had TV screens which were to show the day’s action and it was placed just along from the finish line. We figured from this point we would see everything... so we settled in for the day. Hiring a couple of deckchairs from the Park Keeper was the best decision ever. Comfort and a way to keep the crowds from squishing us. There were even portaloos and stalls close by.

 

Yes, the actual finish line!

Any worries that 6 hours would drag by were soon dispelled. There was plenty to keep us entertained. Greg Lemond and Chris Boardman wandering past, freebies from the sponsors, cheers for the different vehicles and people going past. At last the famed Publicity Caravan rolled through. This is a colourful parade of floats and decorated cars from the sponsors. To be fair most of them looked pretty tired by this point but they gamely waved and grimaced at our excited cheers!

Not sure if the Skoda creature has a name - we cheered anyway.

Miffy! On a car! My favourite of the Caravan.

You can't quite see them - but the cyclists are coming!

Then – the TV announced there was 10km to go – the whole atmosphere changed. The deckchairs had to go and it all got a little bit close and squished. The excitement was building, the riders were getting closer, the squishing got more....squishy. Cameras were out, no one could see what they were photographing but it was all very thrilling.... the riders rounded the last corner and into the straight for the chase to the line..... it couldn’t have been more squished or exhilarating... who would win? It was all so fast I didn’t even hear! Then they flashed past us, close enough to touch, 30 seconds and it was over!

Being where we were meant we got to see everything after that flash too. Marcel Kittel (the stage winner) walked back past, as did the other jersey winners. Vincenzo Nibali in yellow, Peter Sagan in green got huge cheers, not least for his Wolverine hair. We stayed to see the jersey presentations, cheered the winners and watched in amazement as the stage was literally dismantled while the cyclists were just leaving it.

 

Then they zoomed through....

I was this close to Marcel Kittel :)

Vincenzo Nibali gets yellow

Peter Sagan in green. Hair hidden in cap!

We gently headed back to the bus stop, while all around us the barriers and roadblocks came down and the capital returned to normal life. The excitement was over....... Maybe next time we'll go and do it again but in France.... now that WOULD be a road trip!

And it's all over.....

Instameet - London and meeting new friends!

Last Sunday I did something new and exciting and I enjoyed it so much I might do it again!!

Xanthe Berkeley www.xantheberkely.com organised an Instameet in London. This is basically where a bunch of people get together, go on a walk and take lots of photographs. I had seen the meet advertised by Susannah Conway www.susannahconway.com and thought it sounded like fun but London is a BIG adventure for a little village girl like me, especially meeting up with people I didn't know... but hey, I remembered back in January that I vowed to try new things. So, Sunday saw me off to the city on my own with maps and supplies, iPhone and a Polaroid which I wasn't sure that worked (DS#1 had confessed to dropping it on the floor as I was leaving).

The Polaroid did work!

We met outside Moorgate Tube - I was there mega early and almost chickened out at this point, but then met lovely Elle and her dog Noodles. Others joined the group and Xanthe was super welcoming. The plan was to explore the Barbican area, taking our time, then finishing at a cafe before heading our seperate ways.

The 'Foot' shot.

We were also joined by Susannah Conway which I was thrilled about! It was like meeting a hero - I didn't know whether to chat to her or whether I'd just repeat my 'Nik Kershaw moment' where I said something really embarassing to him in a panic. She was wonderful though, really friendly and chatty.

#walktheyellowlinelondon

Freaky gold person at The Barbican.

Anyway, the tour was fun, I didn't realise I'd been so close to this bit of London when we did St Barts. We also checked out Smithfield Meat Market and some interesting smelling alleyways! All the people I met were great - some fabulous photographs were taken and I am definately going to be brave and do it next time!

More feet and shadows.

I did speak to Susannah at the end - telling her how much I'd enjoyed her courses and how much they'd helped me. Don't think I was too stalkerey or weird.... at least, I haven't had security called on me this time! ;-) (sorry Nik)

More pictures

Can't tell you how much I'm enjoying this August Break project. Simple words that have you thinking and coming up with some inspiration. I've discovered the downside to Instagram is the huge range of properly fab pictures that make me think mine are actually pretty crap but I am thinking positive and learning through looking at how they have composed them or arranged things and hopefully this will rub off! This isn't a fish for compliments btw.....

So - Day 14 'Stillness'
Buddha really could do with a polish - but it did make the reflected light nice and soft!

Day 15 'Books'
This is the pile at the side of my bed. I am guilty of having about 6 books on the go at once. Makes following plot lines a little interesting but then I do have a sort attention span (apparently)

Day 16 'Floral'
My sunflowers in my garden!

Day 17 'Touch'
I had all sorts of fluffyness in mind for this project but then spied the poor forgotten cactus at the top of my stairs. We calculated it must be about 35 years old or more and has survived my 'brown fingers'. I usually kill any houseplant within 3 weeks. Clearly this fellow thrives on neglect!

Day 18 'Looking Down'
A shot from the Instameet (see next post), taken somewhere in London!

Day 19 'White'
 I can't tell you how I took my life in my hands to get this shot! DS#1 was lookout (There's a car coming!!) whilst I knelt in the road. I wanted a straight line into the distance but this was the bst I could do.

Get Stuffed (a tail of our visit to London)

Well, the day finally arrived. Kathy and I were off to London for our taxidermy class. Nerves were definately showing, luckily we had each other to cling to!

The 'famous' Sherlock Holmes phonebox.

 

The class took place at St Barts pathology museum, where I had recently spent the day twirling in front of film cameras. We had some time to kill and so checked out the local scenery. There's a monument to William 'Braveheart' Wallace, complete with Sainsburys flowers (nothing says hero worship like a £5 reduced bouquet) and also a decorated phonebox. At first glance Kathy and I thought it was resplendant with assorted cards from ladies of the night which, clearly, warranted a closer look. Instead it was an array of 'I believe in Sherlock' cards and pictures (also one which asked John to buy some milk, a code for something?) One Google later and we discovered this phonebox is on the actual site where TV Sherlock jumped to his possible death. One YouTube later and we could watch the actual action in front of the actual building. Actually quite surreal!

But the day was to get weirder!

Now, this might be the moment to discuss morals. I fully understand that taxidermy is not for everyone and people do have issues with stuffing dead animals. Amanda only uses roadkill/natural death/reptile food animals. As I own a snake and so have a freezer of dead mice I am in no position to argue the morality of using such animals. But I do see both sides of the argument.

The class was led by Amanda of Amanda's Autopsies and her fab assistant, they demonstrated each stage in the procedure and then gave help as needed. I have to say that Kathy and I were quite nervous, several of the other students (trainee stuffers?) seemed very confident. Still, we managed to get through the skinning with no problems, it was strangely therapeutic in fact.I did have a slight intestine mishap but nothing that a paper towel couldn't cover! Music was provided throughout the day, a heart inspired playlist meant we rocked out to Feargal Sharkey and Billy Ray Cyrus (shudder).

One rat, sticky side down!

 

Stuffing was done with cotton wool and wire for articulation. Getting cotton wool and wire into the skin and sewing it up to look vaguely rat shaped was an art in itself, adding the bead eyes and shaping the face was even more tricky! Once finished, however, we got to add our Valentine props. My rat, christened Mervyn, was to be a steampunk Cupid. I had spent all week making metal wings from tomato puree tubes. DH kindly made a steampunk shooter which sadly would not stay in his little paws :-(

Mervyn...wistful look and crossed paws clearly deliberate!

 

There were some fantastic end results, Kathy's Percy was lush with his felted balloons and our taxidermy neighbour, Mr Whiskers (a lovely chap who had been bought the class as a birthday present by his equally lovely fiancee) presented his rat in a fab tux!

 



St Pauls...

 

A pleasant walk back through London allowed us to clear our heads and ratty whiff before our journey home. We resisted the urge to get the rats out on the coach, but did talk about them a lot!

Pictures of the whole experience are available on Amanda's website http://www.amandasautopsies.com/?page_id=2379 Huge thanks to her for a great day!

I have to say I look petrified in all my pictures, but Mervyn looks awesome!



Pride of place on my dressing table!